Switch box anchor and tool for making same



Aug. 19, 1969 H. L. canes I SWITCH BOXv ANCHOR AND TOOL FOR MAKING SAME Filed May 22, 1967 lq Q INVENTOR HERBERT L. GIES FIGB. FIG. 9.

Int. Cl. H02g 3/08 US. Cl. 2203.6 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A bolt contracting type of switch box anchor for bookon attachment to the usual front flange of the box before the insertion thereof in a wall opening, formed of a single strip of fiat bendable material.

The invention relates to improvements in a switch box anchor and tool for making same.

Many types of eflicient anchoring devices for bolts,

screws, nails, etc. have been devised for various purposes but I am aware of a continuing difliculty in mounting electric switch boxes and like receptacles in walls of plasterboard, plywood and the like where a sturdy wooden support is not available.

An object of the invention is to provide a special anchor, applicable in non-rotatable relation to a switch box prior to insertion into a wall opening, that on longitudinal contraction is caused to buckle and bear against the inside of the wall structure.

A further object of the invention is to provide a bolt contracting anchor that may be easily formed from a flat strip of bendable material.

A further object of the invention is to provide a bolt buckling type switch box anchor with a bolt-passing hookon flange on one end and a transversely disposed roll on the other end through which the bolt passes diagonally in threaded relation to produce the desired buckling distortion on longitudinal contraction.

To the accomplishment of these and related objects as shall become apparent as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts as shall be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the claims hereunto appended.

The invention will be best understood and can be more clearly described when reference is bad to the drawings forming a part of this disclosure wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of a conventional electric switch box with one of my anchors mounted in both top left and bottom right positions;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation thereof;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation of one of the anchors;

FIGURE 4 is a bottom view thereof;

FIGURES 5 and 6 are front and rear elevations thereof;

FIGURE 7 is a side elevation of an auxiliary anchor useable with one of the foregoing type;

FIGURES 8 and 9 are front and side elevations respectively of a simple hand-operated forming tool;

FIGURE 10 is a plan view of FIGURE 9; and

FIGURE 11 is a side elevation of the winding key or mandrel.

With the growing use of prefabricated sheets of wallboard materials such as plasterboard, plywood, etc., the mounting of electric switch boxes has become diflicult when no firm and sturdy frame support was easily accessible. In such cases, it is desirable to have a wall anchor that provides an abutment of substantial area against the rear of the wallboard and one that is strong enough to United States Patent 0 3,462,039 Patented Aug. 19, 1969 F we hold the box securely yet not so hard as to fracture the wallboard material relied on.

Referring now particularly to the drawings, a conventional switch box 1 is shown having the usual perforated mounting flanges 2 extending vertically from both top and bottom of the box and substantially flush with the front thereof. One of my anchors 3 is applied to the left side of the top flange 2 and to the right side of the bottom flange.

The wall anchor seen in various positions in FIG- URES 1 to 6 inclusive includes a single member formed from an elongated strip of flat bendable material such as galvanized sheet metal or the like.

One end 4 of the metal strip is bent at approximately right angles (within the range of about 90) to the length of the body to form an attaching or holding flange for hook-on connection to the vertical face flange 2 of the switch box, having a bolt-passing aperture 5 that is registrable with the appropriate aperture in the box flange when the bend in the anchor strip is positioned against the top or bottom edge of the box flange, as seen in FIG- URES l and 2, so that when an anchor bolt is passed through the anchor flange aperture 5 and the registering opening in the box flange 2, the anchor strip lies horizontally and is held against turning.

The other end of the strip is ribbon rolled into a coil 6 having preferably two convolutions and the interiorly located tail disposed vertically, i.e., paralleling the holding flange 4, and a bore 7 provided transversely through the coil midway of the end of the coil and aligned or coaxial with the aperture 5.

When the hook-on anchor end 4 is positioned on the switch box flange 2 with its aperture 5 registering with the selected passage in the box flange 2, an anchor bolt 8 is inserted through the openings and threaded into the bore 7 in the anchor coil 6.

Thus equipped with two or more anchors, the switch box 1 is inserted in an opening of suitably close tolerance outline cut in the wall and as it is pressed into place, the rearwardly extending flat strip bodies of the anchors are wedged vertically toward the box, forming the hook-on flanged end 4 into a U straddling the edge of the box flange 2. By holding the box in position and tightening the bolts 7, the anchor strips 3 are caused to buckle vertically away from the box as seen in FIGURE 2, forming abutments of substantial area bearing laterally against the rear of the Wall member above and below the box.

If further retention be desired, a simple supplementary anchor 9, such as is illustrated in FIGURE 7 may be employed. It too is composed of a length of similar bendable strip material with both ends disposed angularlly as parallel flanges 10 and 11 with aligned perforations 12 and 13 to permit passage of the anchor bolt 8. The overall length of the supplementary anchor is just less than the distance from the rear of the main anchors front end flange 4 and the forward side of the coil 6 and it is positioned on the box flange in rotation from the regular anchor so as to pass around a vertical edge thereof with the bolt extending through the anchor end 4, the supplementary anchors forward flange 10, the box face flange 2 and then further back through the supplementary anchors rear flange 1'1 and the regular anchors coil 6. Thus on the tightening of the bolt 8 the anchors 3 and 9 will buckle simultaneously vertically and horizontally respectively against the back of the wall to the top or bottom and opposite sides of the prepared opening.

While my wall anchor may be manufactured by any approved mass production method, I have provided a simple portable tool by which it may be fashioned by hand. Seen in FIGURES 8 to 11 indlusive, it comprises a mandrel 15 with a crank handle 16 at right angles thereto. The end of the mandrel has a diametric slot 17 extending in from the end thereof and a perforation 18 is disposed transversely. A forming bar 19 that is square in cross section is housed in a sleeve 20, the bar having a transverse bore 21 near its end to accommodate the mandrel and a slot 22 running from such bore to the adjacent end. The opposite sides of sleeve are provided with bores 23 to register with the forming bore 21 in bar 19 and to allow for the insertion of the mandrel. Likewise the opposite walls of the sleeve 20 and the bar 19 have transverse perforations 24 and 25 respectively at right angles to bores 23 and 21 and registrable with each other and the perforation 18 in the mandrel. A rotatable disk 26 with a diametric key 27 is mounted in the bore 23 in the rear wall and is engageable by the slotted end of the mandrel, being held against displacement as by the securing ribbon 28.

In use, with the former bar 19 positioned in the sleeve 20 and the mandrel 15 inserted in the former bar with its slot 17 aligned with the slot 22 in said bar and engaging the key 27, a predetermined length of bendable strip material is introduced into the mandrel slot and the crank handle 16 thereof given two complete rotations. Thereupon a drill is run through the perforations 18 and 24 and on withdrawal of the mandrel and retraction of the bar from the sleeve, the product is removed.

Subsequently the drill opening in the coil 6 formed on the product is tapped for a machine screw; a /2 inch flange 4 formed on the opposite end, the flange placed over the slotted end of the bar 19 and punched and opened to pass the 7 bolt 8, then any further desired shaping is completed and the bolt inserted through the flange aperture 5 and threaded into the tapped bore 7 in the coil 6.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be manifest that a switch box anchor and tool for making same is provided that will fulfil all the necessary requirements of such a device, but many changes could be made in the above description and many apparently widely different embodiments of the invention may be constructed without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

What is claimed as new is:

1. A Wall anchor for securing a switch box or the like in a wall comprising in combination with a switch box having perforated mounting flanges extending vertically from top and bottom of the box and substantially flush with the front thereof, an anchor member consisting of a single elongated strip of flat bendable material having an apertured holding flange on one end and a transversely disposed coil on the other end, said member being applied to said switch box in non-rotatable relation with its holding flange disposed exteriorly of the switch box mounting flange and the body of the rearwardly extending elongated strip just clearing the top thereof when the aperture in the holding flange registers with a perforation in said mounting flange, and a bolt passing through said holding flange and said mounting flange and threaded in said coil. 5 2. A switch box anchor according to claim 1, wherein one such anchor member is applied to the top mounting flange of the switch box at one side and another such anchor member is applied to the bottom mounting flange at the diagonally opposite side.

3. A switch box anchor according to claim 1, wherein said holding flange lies at approximately a right angle to the body of said elongated strip and is designed to be positioned with said switch box mounting flange in front of the wall surrounding the close tolerance opening in which the box is being mounted, with said bendable strip after passing over the edge of the box flange being wedged toward the box as it is pressed into the wall opening thereby forming a U-shaped hook that holds said bendable anchor strip horizontal and against turning.

4. A switch box anchor according to claim 1, having a supplementary anchor comprising a similar bendable strip with an apertured flange on each end, the overall length of said flanged anchor being less than the distance from the back of the flange on the first mentioned anchor to the front side of its transversely disposed coil, said supplementary anchors front end flange being applied to the switch box mounting flange in the same manner as said main anchors holding flange but rotated 90 relative thereto so that the body of the supplementary anchor passes around a vertical edge of said switch box mounting flange and said bolt passes through the main anchors holding flange, the front end flange of said supplementary anchor strip, the mounting flange of the switch box, the rear end flange of the supplementary anchor and then threads into said coil, whereby on the tightening of said bolt, and the retraction of said coil, both the first mentioned and supplementary anchor bendable strips are caused to buckle in planes at right angles to each other, being both held against rotation by the supporting switch box mounting flange.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS EDWARD C. ALLEN, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. -71 

